PEARL
HARBOR The whole film is filled with spiritual
symbolism. There are a number of crosses, streaming beams of heavenly
light, the beauty of an undefiled Eden paradise and the overall
theme of saving grace.-Reviews
by David Bruce
and Mike Furches

MEMORIAL DAY 2001

This
page was created on June 29, 2000
and was updated on
May 23, 2005

Original music by Hans Zimmer, Robert O. Ragland, John Williams
(music from Midway, 1976.
Additional Music James S. Levine, Geoff Zanelli

PG-13
- for sustained intense war sequences, images of wounded, brief
sensuality and some language.

It
was the end of innocence,
and the dawn of a nation's greatest glory.

PEARL
HARBORDecember 7, 1941: "A date which will live in infamy."
From producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay comes Touchstone
Pictures'/Jerry Bruckheimer Films' PEARL HARBOR, an epic saga of
love and war. RAFE McCAWLEY and DANNY WALKER are two daring young
pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps who have grown up like brothers
and first learned to fly in crop-dusting planes. Rafe has fallen
in love with EVELYN STEWART, a beautiful and courageous nurse serving
in the US Navy. But they are soon separated by war when Rafe volunteers
for the Eagle Squadron, a group of Americans fighting alongside
the English during the Battle of Britain.

With
the solemn promise that he will return, Rafe heads off for the deadly
skies above the English Channel, while both Evelyn and Danny are
transferred to the paradise of Hawaii's Pearl Harbor. Their Eden
is shattered however, when word reaches them in the Pacific that
Rafe has been killed in combat. Grief-stricken, they hold fast to
each other for support, and ultimately fall in love.

Then
Rafe returns. His arrival breaks all three of their hearts; but
before they have a chance to find resolution, the attack upon Pearl
Harbor by the combined air and naval forces of Imperial Japan fractures
their private worlds as it alters history.

America's
response to the staggering emotional defeat at Pearl Harbor is to
create one the most daring and unexpected military events in history:
the bombing of Tokyo through a suicide mission led by aviation legend
Jimmy Doolittle. When Colonel Doolittle picks Rafe and Danny to
be his key leaders on the heroic raid, their lives and their love
for Evelyn are once more at the center of this tale of passion and
spectacular personal courage.

Review
by DAVID BRUCE

Yesterday,
December 7, 1941 ? a date which will live in infamy ? the United States
of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air
forces of the Empire of Japan. -- President Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Message to Congress [December
8, 1941]

HANDICAP
INTO STRENGTH
I really appreciated the film's portrayal of President Roosevelt
in a wheel chair. It is not the first film to do this, but I think
it is the first film to portray it as an asset. One of the most
tremendous scenes in the film is when Roosevelt is faced with a
table full of US military leaders who have nothing but "can't
do" excuses. Roosevelt places his hands on the sides of his
wheelchair and struggles to stand. With great effort he finally
stands on his withered legs, "Don't tell me that it can not
be done."

Jon
Voight, who portrays Roosevelt, received applause for the crew for
this scene. Director Bay says that he had "never seen an actor
get a round of applause from all the other actors in the room -
seven times they cheered him after he did the scene in the presidential
office with his cabinet. That's pretty amazing."

2
Cor. 12:7 -Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and
so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap
to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel
did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to
my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty!

A
NEW LOOK AT THE "ENEMY".
The Commander in Chief of The Imperial Japanese Navy, Admiral Isoroku
Yamamoto is played by Mako. "Historically, Hollywood pictures about
World War II depict the Japanese as the evil side," he explains.
"That's too much to cope with. Every war is started for a reason,
usually economic, and in that sense this picture depicts the Japanese
side in a fair light. There is no evil blackness about any of the
characters."

Most
Americans would be surprised to know that Yamamoto had been educated
at Harvard and served as a naval attach? to various Japanese embassies,
including the United States. When Japan first considered war with
America, Yamamoto objected and was very vocal about his position
against a strike.

I
truly appreciated the portrayal of the Japanese. As actor Cary-Hiroyuki
Tagawa who plays Commander Minoru Genda notes, "This film does justice
to both sides, It honors both the Japanese and the Americans ...Pearl
Harbor is such a sensitive issue for my parents' generation, It's
not something you want to make an issue of again, other than to
pay homage to everyone who fought and died ...I hope it will be
a great tribute."

Rev.
14:6 -I saw another Angel soaring in Middle-Heaven. He had an Eternal
Message to preach to all who were still on earth, every nation and
tribe, every tongue and people.

THE
WOMEN WHO SERVED
I think the world of Randall Wallace who wrote the film. I met him
3 years ago at the City of Angeles Film Festival. I have often wondered
how he would retell the story of Pearl Harbor for this time. He
did a great job because he focused on all kinds and types of people.
Wallace says, "I
wanted to write about the kind of people who said, ?A fight's coming,
and I'm not going to wait for it to come to me.' I wanted to write
about the heroism suddenly required of a nurse who has never seen
a battlefield injury before, who suddenly has thousands of dying
men on her hands. So I invented characters and a story."

In
the 3 photos below the transformation of the women can be clearly
seen.
1. The arrival in Hawaii, the women are very casual as though they
were on an all expenses paid holiday in a tropical paradise.
2. Dressed for duty in a hospital that knows has no patients. Social
events with the boys was their main focus.
3. Then the attack and everything changes. Their dress and priorities
take a major shift.

Although
Pearl Harbor is an actual event, Wallace's story is entirely fiction,
which gave Wallace the ability to explore new dimensions of the
event. He gives a wonderful place to the memory of the women who
served in some really amazing ways.

Pay
attention to the opening scenes with the nurses talking about giving
the men vaccinations. Very empowering scenes. A joy to watch. Thanks
Randall!

Isaiah
32:10-11 In a short time?in just a little more than a year?you careless
ones will suddenly begin to care. For your fruit crop will fail,
and the harvest will never take place. Tremble, you women of ease;
throw off your unconcern. Strip off your pretty clothes, and wear
sackcloth in your grief.

THE
PLACE OF SEXUAL RESPONSIBILITY.
Wallace did a very un-Hollywood thing. He presents delayed sexual
activity between lovers as an ideal thing to do. I was pleasantly
surprised when Rafe McCawley (Ben Affleck) did not jump into bed
with his girl friend, Evelyn (Kate Beckinsale) the night before
he leaves for overseas duty. Here is the dialogue:

Evelyn:
"If I had just one more night to live, I'd spend it with you."

Rafe:
"I'm not trying to be noble. I's afraid. And the idea of having
more love than I've ever had -and knowing I might never have it
again -that scares me worse than anything. I will come back. Whatever
happens. I will find a way."

They
kiss. Hold hands then they force themselves apart.

The
scene is almost revolutionary.

"Celibacy:
Single blessedness." -William Shakespeare (1564?1616)
"It is with our passions, as it is with fire and water. They
are good servants but bad masters." -Sir Roger L?Estrange (1616?1704)

SEXUAL
IRREPRESSIBILITY
Hearing of the "death" of Rafe, Evelyn seeks comfort in
the arms of Rafe's best friend Danny. They go too far, too soon.
Evelyn ends up pregnant. To complicate matters further Rafe "returns
from the dead."

What
should have been a joyous reunion for the three of them, turned
into a gut wrenching experience. The relationship between the three
is now broken. Danny and Rafe were no longer best friends, despite
the fact that they loved each other. Evelyn and Rafe were alienated
from each other, in spite of the fact that they loved each other.

What
ultimately happens is that the underlying love they have for each
other ultimately manifests itself in amazing grace, forgiveness
and reconciliation. I will not spoil the film for you with the details,
but I will say it is a story of the triumph over sin by amazing
grace.

"Abounding sin is the terror of
the world, but abounding grace is the hope of mankind." -A.
W. Tozer (1897?1963). "Grace binds you with far stronger cords
than the cords of duty or obligation can bind you. Grace is free,
but when once you take it, you are bound forever to the Giver and
bound to catch the spirit of the Giver. Like produces like. Grace
makes you gracious, the Giver makes you give." -E. Stanley
Jones (1884?1973)

REVOLVING
DOORS.
Pay attention to the use of windows and doors in this film. When
Rafe goes away to war, Evelyn for the last time sees him through
a revolving glass door. Very symbolic. When Rafe returns "from
the dead" we are reintroduced to him in the reflection of a
glass door.
Doors represent both closure and introduction. They also symbolize
new dimensions and time passages. Windows present visions of truth
and separation. The film combines these two powerful symbols. The
movie UNBREAKABLE, SLIDING DOORS and
SIXTH SENSE also used doors AND WINDOWS
in similar fashion.Jesus calls Himself ?the door? (John
10:7, 9). Faith in Him is the only way to enter the the next dimensions
(heaven). God gave to the Gentiles ?the door of faith,? or an opportunity
to know Him as Lord (Acts 14:27). Jesus stands at the door and knocks
(Rev. 3:20). He calls all people to Himself, but will not enter
without permission.

PARADISE
LOST.
Nobody plays a baseball game this early on a Sunday morning. It's
placed in the film as symbolic of the shift from innocence to devastation.
From Paradise to Paradise Lost. It is the Garden of Eden story couched
in an actual historical event. The incoming Japanese Zeros flying
into Pearl Harbor to bomb it are placed against several foregrounds
of innocence: A kids' baseball game, little girls playing like fairies,
a cut-out full size Santa Claus, and two boys hiking on a hill.
Paradise Lost is the seventeenth-century epic poem by John Milton
that is a classic of English literature. It is about creation, the
fall of Lucifer, and the fall of humans. Milton explains that his
purpose is to ?Justify the ways of God to men.?

A strong
symbol of the fall of paradise is the Tropical Hawaiian Shirts worn
by Rafe and Danny as they suddenly find themselves having to help
the wounded Their shirts become dirty and bloody. Paradise had turned
into a burning hell.The
Greek Old Testament (Septuagint) used ?paradise? to translate the
Hebrew words for the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3. Over the years,
the terms because synonymous, and eventually paradise came to refer
to heaven. Jewish theology then developed an opposite place for
wicked persons, gehenna, a burning furnace.

Another
strong symbolic event is seen when Evelyn pulls off her nylons to
use as a medical tourniquets and the use of her lipstick to mark
the foreheads of those who can helped and those are destined to
die.Hebrews
9:27 And just as it is destined that each person dies only once
and after that comes judgment,

SPIRITUALITY
The whole film is filled with spiritual symbolism. There are a number
of crosses, streaming beams of heavenly light, the beauty of an undefiled
Eden paradise and the overall theme of saving grace. Listen carefully
to the words of the Chaplain as he ushers a young man into eternity
as he is dying in a hospital bed. The suggestion of redemption through
blood sacrifice is seen when the priest blesses the many bloody corpses
of the many who gave their lives.Blood has great significance in the Bible.
Its meanings involve profound aspects of human life and God?s desire
to transform human existence. The term ?blood of Christ? designates
in the atoning death of Christ. Atonement refers to the basis and
process by which estranged people become at one with God (atonement
= at-one-ment).